Black Screen at Startup

DaFees said:

Model # & Service tag should be there now. Did a malwarebytes scan and that came back clean. No rootkits were found. As for CCleaner here is the info from that you requested:

MBAM is clean - good. That rules out anything lurking on the system.

For the installed apps, here's what I would like to see removed:

Code:

Amazon 1Button App    Amazon    12/6/2013    9.85 MB    1.0.3
Dell Backup and Recovery    Dell Inc.    9/7/2013    581 MB    1.7.5.63
    (unless he uses this, then it should be updated.)
Dell Digital Delivery    Dell Products, LP    6/7/2015    6.67 MB    3.1.1002.0
PocketCloud    Wyse Technology    12/1/2013    15.2 MB    2.6.21
    (Dell Digital Delivery and PocketCloud are part of Dell - if he buys software and downloads through Dell, he'll need this, otherwise not.)
Shared C Run-time for x64    McAfee    9/7/2013    2.76 MB    10.0.0
    (I don't see McAfee AV, so I don't think this is needed and may be a leftover from a long time ago.)

Here's what I would like to see updated:

Code:

Dell Wireless Driver Installation    Dell    9/7/2013    22.6 MB    10.0
Google Chrome    Google Inc.    3/9/2014    493 MB    52.0.2743.116
Google Earth    Google    6/12/2015    213 MB    7.1.5.1557
Intel(R) Control Center    Intel Corporation    9/8/2013        1.2.1.1008
Intel(R) Management Engine Components    Intel Corporation    6/6/2014        8.1.0.1281
Intel(R) Rapid Storage Technology    Intel Corporation    9/8/2013        11.6.0.1030
Realtek USB 2.0 Card Reader    Realtek Semiconductor Corp.    9/7/2013    14.5 MB    6.1.8400.30136
Windows Live Essentials    Microsoft Corporation    9/7/2013        16.4.3505.0912

On the Dell support site, you can download the updates one at a time, and when you go to install them, they will tell you if they are not needed, so don't worry about checking the rev of every driver to see if you need it or not. It also will tell you if a component is not installed if you try to install a driver for something that's not on the system.

I will get you the link(s), and have a look at the available updates for this system later this evening, but I think this may help...have to see what's there.

DaFees said:

With regards to the DISM commands you wanted me to run I cannot do /ScanHealth and /CheckHealth using the /Source option or at least I get an error when I try. So am I somehow doing this part wrong or no?

It's my understanding that you can do all three DISM commands pointing to the WIM, but I could be mistaken. I'll have to check on that. Do those two run without pointing to the WIM? If so, what are the results? And the third one, RestoreHealth, does that complete when pointing to the WIM? Are you using a v1511 WIM ISO for that?

DaFees said:

As for that Macrium image I will get it as soon as I can because right now the recovery disk iso is taking longer to download than expected.

Okay, the ISO you are downloading, that is the v1607, the latest (Anniversary Update), right?

DaFees said:

Oh and my friend couldn't really tell me what he was doing at the time this happened. He just turned it on one day and it was like this. The best he could tell me is that he is currently letting his daughter and her 2 year old stay with him. Perhaps the little child might have done something he thinks. I doubt this but then again I can't be sure.

Okay, probably not a result of anything anyone did. I suspect an update coupled with an old driver of some sort may have something to do with it, but wanted to check if anything specific had happened, just for clues. I may have more specific ideas once I have a look at the Dell support page.

DaFees said:

I will get you that Macrium image as soon as I can but if you anything else let me know.

The Macrium image is not for me - it's for you, or rather your friend, in case we are unable to correct this, or something goes terribly wrong, or we determine that a clean install is the only solution. Of course, I'm trying to avoid that, as I'm sure your friend will prefer a fix rather than a clean install...So, I'd like to have that done before anything else, as a little "insurance policy". I hope you have some room on an external hard drive for the image?

DaFees said:

Ok, I've uninstalled the requested programs and am working on updating the others you listed. As for DISM scans I did what I could and for the restore health scan I used a v1511 ISO but I do also have a v1607 ISO. Oh and earlier when I was talking about the ISO taking long I was referrring to the rescue disk ISO that is used to make the Macrium image.

Attachment 100864
Attachment 100862
Attachment 100863

Thanks for the update. I'll have a look at the logs in a bit.

It's correct to use the v1511 for the DISM tool, as long as it has the WIM and not the ESD. If it's an ESD, I believe you'll get the 1392 error. Did the DISM scans complete fully? Or, did they fail?

Oh right - the Macrium PE - yes, that takes a little while. Actually, the rescue ISO isn't used to make the image. It's used if you ever need to restore an image. Kyhi's rescue media has Macrium built-in, so you actually could boot a system to that, and restore an image (just FYI). Additionally, you could add Macrium to the system's boot menu, and have that available at every boot, in case it's needed.





At any rate, here is what I've got from the Dell support site:

Dell Updates for this system tag:
Product Support | Dell US


I've listed them separately here, but there is a "Guide Me" tab that will check the system automatically, if that's easier.

(Speccy will tell you the current BIOS rev.)
Dell have vA11 available (Nov 2013)
Dell Inspiron 660 / Vostro 270 System BIOS Driver Details | Dell US

If it's the same, skip it.

Intel Management Engine Interface Driver (Chipset)
Intel Management Engine Interface Driver Driver Details | Dell US

v9.0.0.1310, A02 15Dec2015

Intel Chipset Device Driver
Intel Chipset Device Driver Driver Details | Dell US

v9.4.0.1025, A00 29Nov2015

IRST - Intel Rapid Storage Technology Driver
Intel Rapid Storage Technology Driver Driver Details | Dell US

v12.8.0.1016, A00 29Nov2015

Realtek Card reader Driver
Realtek Card Reader Driver Driver Details | Dell US

v6.2.9200.30164, A00 29Nov2015

There are also updates for the Ethernet and WiFi NICs from Dec/Nov 2015, respectively:
Realtek RTL8111G/RTL8151GD-CG/8111F Ethernet Controller Driver Driver Details | Dell US

Dell Wireless 1506 WiFi Driver Driver Details | Dell US

These should be installed in this order, if you do it manually.

You'll be doing some rebooting after installing some of these. Please keep Fast Startup off, and I would do shutdowns instead of restarts.

Start Device Manager from a run box in Task Manager:

Code:

mmc devmgmt.msc

Expand Display Adapters and right-click the Intel HD Graphics>Update driver software>Search automatically

I'll be interested to see what results you get from these updates. Could be the chipset and graphics updates may do it, or most of it - at least to the point where we can do an in-place repair.

I have read through another (quite lengthy) thread here, which had some similar problems, and there are some fixes that worked for a few people, but most of them had a black screen before login (you have a login and then a black screen), so I'm not too hopeful, but we can try them if the above doesn't work.

One thing I thought might - just might - help, would be to install Classic Shell (free) temporarily. That will give you a start menu similar to W7, and all functionality should be available in that configuration. Just a thought.

Please let me know how you get on. I will have a look at the log files in the meantime.

I'd like to work on the Component Store as well; two commands to run in an admin command prompt, in this order:

Code:

Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup

Code:

Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth (and point to your WIM)

Then, clear and reset the Windows Store cache:

Code:

wsreset.exe

See if Store opens after this completes and gives you a message that the cache for the Store was cleared. If so, check for updates in the Store while you're there.

First, I am using a proper v1511 ISO with WIM and not ESD. I also have a proper v1607 ISO with WIM. I updated all the drivers/etc. you wanted me to but that made no difference. Beyond that I did the /startcomponentcleanup and that completed fine but the /restorehealth still failed with the 1392 error. Here are the two logs from those commands.

Attachment 100887
Attachment 100888

Also, I did the wsreset.exe command and despite running that command successfully (I assume successfully as nothing was reported back) the Windows Store doesn't open. At least running the command for opening the Windows Store doesn't cause Command Prompt hang.

EDIT: Some interesting behavior occurred. When I ran the command to open the Windows Store, nothing happened. Well I walked away from the PC for a bit a come back to a pop-up telling me "You'll need a new app to open this ms-windows-store" Also I thought that running the command to open the settings app had in fact caused command prompt to hang. Well after a while of letting that command run I come back to an error "ms-settings: Install failed. Please contact your software vendor."

DaFees said:

First, I am using a proper v1511 ISO with WIM and not ESD. I also have a proper v1607 ISO with WIM.

Thanks for confirming that for me.

DaFees said:

I updated all the drivers/etc. you wanted me to but that made no difference. Beyond that I did the /startcomponentcleanup and that completed fine but the /restorehealth still failed with the 1392 error. Here are the two logs from those commands.

Attachment 100887
Attachment 100888

I see the same problems as before.

DaFees said:

Also, I did the wsreset.exe command and despite running that command successfully (I assume successfully as nothing was reported back) the Windows Store doesn't open. At least running the command for opening the Windows Store doesn't cause Command Prompt hang.

EDIT: Some interesting behavior occurred. When I ran the command to open the Windows Store, nothing happened. Well I walked away from the PC for a bit a come back to a pop-up telling me "You'll need a new app to open this ms-windows-store" Also I thought that running the command to open the settings app had in fact caused command prompt to hang. Well after a while of letting that command run I come back to an error "ms-settings: Install failed. Please contact your software vendor."

Interesting. Did you try putting Classic Shell on there, or are you managing?

Have you managed to make an image of the hard drive so we have an insurance policy?

Please run Ccleaner on the registry, checking all boxes except Help Files. Say YES to save the changes before committing them.




Let's try to re-register Windows Store, and then re-register the universal apps. I would like to see the system in a clean boot state for this.

Re-register Store
Store - Re-register in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums

Code:

PowerShell -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Command "& {$manifest = (Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.WindowsStore).InstallLocation + '\AppxManifest.xml' ; Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register $manifest}"

Reinstall & re-register apps for all users (See Option #1, item #3):
Apps - Reinstall and Re-register in Windows 8 and 10 - Windows 10 Forums


Then reset the cache once more. wsreset.exe

Shutdown the computer and restart it (clean boot).
Right-click to mount the v1607 ISO, navigate to setup.exe, double-click and see if we can get the in-place repair to work yet.
EDIT: if it does start working, make sure it gives the option to Keep all apps and files. If it doesn't give that option, cancel out.

A fresh sfc /scannow scan and [SR] log will be good at this point.

Code:

findstr /c:"[SR]" %windir%\Logs\CBS\CBS.log >"%userprofile%\Desktop\sfcdetails.txt"

Thanks.

DaFees said:

I did the requested actions in CCleaner. As for re-registering the store. I didn't do that yet because I know that will fail because upon investigation the store is completely deleted from this PC. The folders where the Store and apps you get from the Store are stored don't exist.

I was away all day so that's why I'm only now sharing this.

Hi.
No problem/no rush. I am away a good part of the day today as well.

- Image - yes or no? (or, at least data backed up?)

Please try this:

Reinstall Windows Store
Restore and reinstall Windows Store in Windows 10 after removing with PowerShell

See if you can then open the Windows Store and any apps. If so, try to check for updates.

If not, then try the two links (2 posts above) to re-register Store and re-register and reinstall Store Apps.

Shutdown the computer and restart it (clean boot).

Right-click to mount the v1607 ISO, navigate to setup.exe, double-click the file to run it, and see if we can get the in-place repair to work yet. If it does start working, make sure it gives the option to Keep all apps and files. If it doesn't give that option, cancel out.

A fresh sfc /scannow scan and [SR] log will be good at this point.

Code:

findstr /c:"[SR]" %windir%\Logs\CBS\CBS.log >"%userprofile%\Desktop\sfcdetails.txt"

Thanks.

Failing the above, please have a look at this thread:

Solved How to reinstall Store. - Page 4 - Windows 10 Forums

(post #35 and also #38)